The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

JerryVan wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 6:49 pm

AmberolaAndy wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 5:47 pm Well I’ll be danged! It finally works! Now I need some help setting up the speed control and adjustment of the half nut! FINALLY PROGRESS!


Well I figured out the most daunting part of getting this thing working atleast! But I think the control for the 2/4 minute gear is out of place?

Many congratulations!!!

I'm still wondering however, why you want/need to adjust the halfnut? Is it giving you trouble?

Yeah in the middle of what I’m playing the record skips and I’m not sure which screw I need to adjust the pressure. And I just need to know how the speed control is properly put in.

With this kind of bar, I think you need to flex the bar itself very slightly to adjust the half nut pressure. I've done that on my Home A, although that bar is thinner, and easier to bend.

- Bill

Lucius1958 wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 10:12 pm With this kind of bar, I think you need to flex the bar itself very slightly to adjust the half nut pressure. I've done that on my Home A, although that bar is thinner, and easier to bend.

- Bill

So I got to slightly bend it? Ok. If it doesn’t do it, I got eBay and the guy who took over for Ron Sitko’s business to turn to, to get a screw adjustable one.

AmberolaAndy wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 11:49 pm

Lucius1958 wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 10:12 pm With this kind of bar, I think you need to flex the bar itself very slightly to adjust the half nut pressure. I've done that on my Home A, although that bar is thinner, and easier to bend.

- Bill

So I got to slightly bend it? Ok. If it doesn’t do it, I got eBay and the guy who took over for Ron Sitko’s business to turn to, to get a screw adjustable one.

NO!! Don't bend anything.

Loosen the clamp screw indicated below. This should loosen the nickle plated carriage bar from the black carriage casting. Once loose, rotate the carriage bar SLIGHTLY, as indicated by the arrow, snug the clamp screw down, then test it out. Rotating the carriage bar will lower the nut and increase its contact pressure with the lead screw. Do not overtighten the clamp screw. It should not have to be crazy tight and doing so may break the carriage casting.

Again, rotate the bar just a very little bit. Tiny adjustments get big results here. Too much pressure will make the nut act like a brake, dragging things down to a stop.

An additional note, there may be old, dried-up oil between the carriage bar and the carriage casting, making it difficult to rotate the bar as I've described. If this is the case, don't force anything, heat up the clamp area with a hairdryer to melt the dried oil.

I don't understand your speed control issue. The new yoke that you installed controls not only the brake, but the speed as well. The speed control knob positions the yoke at the correct angle to maintain the desired speed. So when the brake is released, the yoke tips away from the governor plate. The speed control knob limits just how much it tips away.

You ask "how the speed control is properly put in." You just screw in the knob until you see it touch the end of the yoke. Then screw it in further to slow down the speed as needed.

See the end of the speed control, contacting the yoke...

JerryVan wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 9:47 am I don't understand your speed control issue. The new yoke that you installed controls not only the brake, but the speed as well. The speed control knob positions the yoke at the correct angle to maintain the desired speed. So when the brake is released, the yoke tips away from the governor plate. The speed control knob limits just how much it tips away.

You ask "how the speed control is properly put in." You just screw in the knob until you see it touch the end of the yoke. Then screw it in further to slow down the speed as needed.

See the end of the speed control, contacting the yoke...

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Ok thank you for answering my silly Questions!

So I got it playing great with a 14 inch horn! But the skipping happens when I put the cygnet on it!

Anyway here it is playing a 2 minute record.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9SR9FzS288w

AmberolaAndy wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:25 pm

JerryVan wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 9:47 am I don't understand your speed control issue. The new yoke that you installed controls not only the brake, but the speed as well. The speed control knob positions the yoke at the correct angle to maintain the desired speed. So when the brake is released, the yoke tips away from the governor plate. The speed control knob limits just how much it tips away.

You ask "how the speed control is properly put in." You just screw in the knob until you see it touch the end of the yoke. Then screw it in further to slow down the speed as needed.

See the end of the speed control, contacting the yoke...

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Ok thank you for answering my silly Questions!

So I got it playing great with a 14 inch horn! But the skipping happens when I put the cygnet on it!

Anyway here it is playing a 2 minute record.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9SR9FzS288w

They're not silly questions. A silly question would be, "Why can't cats use silverware?" (Obviously, because they don't have opposable thumbs).
But I digress...

Anyway... sometimes when a cygnet horn is used, the upper suspension spring is pulls too hard on the horn. And since the horn is connected to the reproducer with a snug fitting rubber hose, the horn actually pulls up on the reproducer and won't allow the carriage to drop all the way down, which in turn reduces the pressure of the half nut on the lead screw... making it skip. Or, short answer, try adjusting the hanger spring tension, either up or down, and see if that helps.

Well I’ve been fiddling with the cygnet and no dice so far. It wants to be a turd…I think I need to get a shorter spring… but I made a video showing it playing a 4 minute record…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj-Pqqje2aM

Now it wants to be a turd by starting slow then speed up playing normally! Persnickety machine this is! I wonder if it’s that 2/4 minute switch a culprit of robbing power at the beginning of a record?

Ok. I found out if I wait a few seconds for the machine to speed up that issue doesn’t happen! Lol. But now the record skips at the end!

I’m thinking about ditching this halfnut all together and getting another one! I am absolutely NOT finding its “sweet spot” with this half nut!

NO MATTER how “precise” I move it, it plain won’t track!

Back to eBay or the phonograph shop to get a replacement half nut and bar!

My Edison home B wasn’t this awful when it came to getting it to track correctly!